that if hee would be saued hee must seeke to be freed from the curse of the Law and so bee forced to seeke for saluation out of himselfe in Christ to which ende the Lawe is said to bee a schoolemaster vnto Christ. The very same is to be vnderstood of the Euangelicall faith or faith in Christ. For many there be and they as it is to be feared are the greatest number who are content to make profession of the Gospel either because it is inioyned being as ready to embrace the religion of Antichrist if authoritie should impose it vpon them or because it standeth well with their outward respects or to say the best of them because it promiseth saluation to them that beleeue but rest in this outward profession of faith without any speciall application of the promises of the Gospell or apprehension of the merits of Christ without which it is not a true and effectuall faith vniting vs vnto Christ or iustifying vs in him For it cannot bee that a man seeing by a legall faith his owne damnable estate in himselfe he should be said truly and effectually to beleeue the promise of the Gospell which assureth saluation to all though most wretched in themselues that beleeue in Christ who is not willing to receiue and embrace him as his Sauiour desiring in his heart to be made partaker of the merits of Christ and resoluing in his mind to rest and rely vpon him for saluation For whatsoeuer either Papists or they that are Popishly minded doe speake of this applying of the promises of the Gospell and particular apprehending of Christ it is most certaine that without it faith doth not iustifie vs before God or vnite vs vnto Christ. For though 〈◊〉 sufferings of Christ bee as a soueraigne salue to heale our sores though his body be meat indeed and his blood drinke indeed to feed our soules vnto eternal life though his righteousnes be as a wedding garment to couer our nakednes and to make vs accepted of God yet his merits doe not cure our diseased soules vnlesse they be applied his body blood do not nourish vs vnlesse we spiritually eate his body and drinke his blood neither doth the robe of his righteousnes couer vs vnlesse we put it on And surely if faith doth iustifie vs as it is an instrument to apprehend Christ who is our righteousnes and no◠in any other respect then is it most certain that it doth not iustifie vnlesse it be such a faith as doth apprehend the righteousnes of Christ and apply the promise of the Gospell to our selues Wee must therefore learne to applie the promise of the Gospel to our selues which we may do after this manner Is this true as I acknowledge it to be the word of truth that although I am by the sentence of the law and testimony of mine owne conscience an accursed wretch in my selfe notwithstanding I shall be happy and blessed in Christ if I receiue him to be my Sauiour and truly beleeue in him for in him I shall not only be acquited from the curse but also intitled to the kingdome of heauen And doth the Lord in the ministery of the Gospell which he hath vouchsafed vnto me not only reueale the riches of his abundant mercy in Christ and offer the same vnto vs but also stirre vs vp to embrace his mercy offered vnto vs in Christ and by his Embassadors earnestly desire vs to be reconciled vnto him I do therfore vnfainedly receiue the Lord Iesus to be my sweete Sauiour first earnestly desiring in my heart to be made partaker of his merits to which end I wil daily pray vnto God that as he hath desired mee to accept of his mercy and to be reconciled vnto him so he would bee pleased to accept of the merits and obedience of Christ as a full discharge for my sinnes and that in him he would bee reconciled vnto mee pardoning my sinnes and imputing vnto mee the righteousnes of his Sonne and secondly resoluing in my mind to acknowledge him to be my only Sauiour and to rest vpon him alone for my saluation being perswaded that hee died for my sinnes and rose againe for my iustification Thus by application the Euangelical faith becommeth effectual to vnite vs vnto Christ and to iustifie vs before God But as our faith must be effectuall in apprehending Christ the obiect thereof vnto iustification so must it bee in some measure effectuall in the subiect that is the beleeuer vnto sanctification For true faith inwardly purgeth the hart and outwardly worketh by loue Fo◠when a man is truly perswaded of the euerlasting loue of God towards him in Christ this perswasion which is faith if it bee true and effectuall cannot but stirre vp his heart to loue the Lord and his neighbour for the Lords sake Faith therefore as S. Iames saith must be demonstrated by good workes which are the necessary fruits thereof For although faith alone doth iustifie as Paul sheweth because faith is the only thing in vs which concurreth vnto the act of iustification and is the only grace which serueth as an instrument to apprehend and receiue Christ who only is our righteousnes yet that faith which is alone not ioyned with repentance amendment of life doth not iustifie as Iames proueth because it is not a true faith For euen as the body saith he without spirit that is breath is iudged dead so faith without workes which are as it were the breathing of a liuely faith is iudged to be dead We are to remember that they which be in Christ haue their workes to follow them as it is heere said For in whom Christ dwelleth by faith to iustifie them hee dwelleth also by his spirit to sanctifie thē neither did he come wit◠water alone or blood alone but as Io◠saith hee came both with water and blood both which gushed out of h◠side the blood I say of redemption to purge vs from the guilt of sinne and the water of ablution to cleanse vs from th◠corruption And euen as from the fis◠Adam there is communicated vnto vs not only the guilt of his first sin by in◠putation because as we were in him a the root so in him we sinned originally but also the corruption of his natur◠which by his sinne hee had contracte◠deriued vnto vs by generation So fro◠Christ the second Adam there is co◠municated vnto vs not only the me◠of his obedience by imputation to a quite vs from the guilt of sinne beca◠in him as in our head we haue fulfill◠the law satisfied the iustice of God but also the graces of his spirit where we are made partakers of the diuine 〈◊〉 ture deriued vnto vs by regeneration therefore we be in Christ wee beco◠new creatures 2. Cor. 5. 17. walking 〈◊〉 after the flesh but after the spirit Rom. 81. For if we shal say that we haue communion with
testimonie of the truth rather than to yeeld to Antichrist and generally may be more affraid to commit sin than to suffer death let vs remember what the holy Ghost saith that blessed are those which die in the Lord. And let vs consider that this assertion is no humane inuention or earthly deuice but a diuine and heauenly oracle For so saith Iohn I heard a voyce from heauen Many will say If I might heare an Angell from heauen tell me that which you Ministers doe teach vs as namely that to die in the Lord is an happie thing assuredly I would beleeue it If from heauen it were testified vnto me that it is a blessed thing to die not in the faith and communion of the Romish Church but in the faith of Christ professed in the Churches reformed by the preaching of the Gospell I would rather die than ioyne with the Church of Rome And yet behold this truth is not onely auouched by a voice from heauen but also that as Peter speaketh in the like case we might haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a more firme word which is the written word it is by the commandement of God from heauen committed to writing as containing words faithfull and true and being spoken and written hath the testimonie of the spirit that it is the vndoubted word of God Such is the credit of the written word that if an Angell from heauen should gainsay it he were to be held accursed Gal. 1. 8. And he that will not giue credit to the written word which is the most sure foundation of our faith neither would he beleeue though an Angell should come from heauen or a spirit from the dead Satan can transforme himselfe into an Angell of light and take vpon him the person of the dead and therefore if we should trust to apparitions we might soone be deceiued But the word of God cannot deceiue vs. Seeing therefore this assertion is pronounced by God from heauen and at his appointment is committed by the holy Euangelist to writing and also hath the testimonie of the holy Ghost who is the spirit of truth Let vs therefore with all reuerence and good conscience hearken vnto it as to the oracle of God and with the full perswasion of faith giue vnfained credit vnto it as vnto the vndoubted word of the Lord namely that the dead which die in the Lord are from thenceforth blessed because they rest from their labours and their workes follow them In which words three things are to be considered First who they are which be here pronounced blessed Secondly what this blessednesse is and wherein it doth consist which is shewed in the reason that they rest from their labours c. Thirdly when this blessednes belongeth to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith hee from thenceforth that is forthwith and immediatly after their death and so forward As touching the first Blessed saith he are the dead What the dead blessed A strange paradoxe no doubt to hypocrites and worldly men who haue placed their felicitie in the fruition of temporall things and put the day of death farre from them fearing nothing more than to die and hoping for nothing lesse than to be blessed after death But let vs remember that it is an oracle of God deliuered from heauen and testified by the holy spirit From hence therefore let vs learne truly to acknowledge the immortalitie of the soule and effectually beleeue that there is a life immortall after this mortall life is ended And in this beliefe let vs be carefull so to liue as that we may hope after this life is ended to be happie and blessed Neither let vs be so mad as for the momentanie fruition of temporall vanities in this vale of miserie to lose an euerlasting inheritance in the kingdome of heauen But hee addeth which die in the Lord. For not all that are dead are blessed for many die out of the Lord Iesus and out of Gods fauour as those which depart in the faith of Antichrist or otherwise die in their sinnes as in ignorance infidelitie impenitencie c. and they are so far from being blessed when they die as that by their death their miserie is infinitely increased But they are blessed which die in the Lord. Which words some vnderstand as spoken of Martyrs onely and so reade them who die for the Lords cause And no doubt if all they be blessed who die in the Lord much more may we assure our selues that they which doe not onely die in the Lord but also for him are most happie and blessed And this must encourage all true Christians as we are perswaded that the Lord hath laid downe his life for our sakes so to bee most readie and willing to lay downe our liues for his sake if it shall please the Lord to vouchsafe vnto vs both that honour as to be the Martyrs of Iesu as also that fauour as to make our death and afflictions which otherwise all of vs must looke to suffer as chastisements for our sinnes to be sufferings for righteousnes But yet not onely such as die for the Lord are here pronounced blessed nor all they are blesled who would seeme to die for the Lord but all they and onely they who die in the Lord are blessed For if any man dying for the maintenance of heresie shall think he dieth for the Lord as all in that case are readie to pretend notwithstanding hee is not blessed because hee doth not die in the Lord. For none are in him but such as truly belieue in him and none truly belieue in him which doe not loue him and his members for his sake But they which die for heresie as they doe not truly belieue in Christ so doe they not truly loue his members but by their heresie cut themselues from the bodie of Christ which is his true Church For hs he that giueth his bodie to bee burnt and hath not loue saith the Apostle so hee that thinketh himselfe to be martyred hath not true faith it profiteth him nothing And such is the state as of all other heretikes so especially of the Popish martyrs of these times as they are esteemed among thē For besides that they do not die for their religion properly but for treason and rebellion and it is not the punishment but the cause that maketh a Martyr their religion also is Antichristian being the Caholike apostasie the common sewre of heresie and the very mysterie of iniquitie Neither doe they die in the cause or faith of Christ but in the cause and faith of Antichrist and therefore are the martyrs not of Christ but of Antichrist The truth whereof none can denie if this once bee prooued vnto them which by our writings is sufficiently prooued that Rome is Babylon the Pope Antichrist and the Papists such as haue receiued the marke of the beast Therfore not only they which die for the Lord nor all they who would seeme
most euident place not only against wandering of soules but especially against Purgatory prayer for the dead For whereas they obiect that the place is vnderstood of Martyrs only I haue before plainely proued that it is generally vnderstood of al those that die in Christ whether as Martyrs or as Confessors who neither by the tyranny nor fraud oâ— Antichrist can bee drawne away from Christ. For these being in Christ consequently made partakers of his merits Christ hath by his blood so fully boâ— purged their soules that they shall noâ— need the fire of Purgatory which waâ— deuised to purge mens purses ratheâ— then their soules and also satisfied the iustice of God for their sinnes that as other purgations so other satisfactionâ— are blasphemies against Christ our alone all sufficient and most perfect Sauiour But in this text there be three euidences against the Papists First in thâ— he saith they are blessed from thencâ— forth forthwith immediately and noâ— many yeeres much lesse many thousanâ— yeeres after as the Pope in his Antichrâ—stian pardons would beare vs in hanâ— Secondly they are said to rest or to bâ— eased as the word signifieth from thâ— labours and therefore are not at all toâ—mented in Purgatory which as theâ—selues reach burnes as hotte as the fiâ— of hel Thirdly it is said that their worâ— that is the reward of their faith and obedience doth accompany them which reward I hope they will not say is the fiâ— of Purgatory And further obserue that he doth not say other mens works are to bee sent after them to redeeme them forsooth out of Purgatory but their owne workes follow with them Know therefore for certaintie that Purgatorie is but a fire seruing for the Popes kitchin and prayer for the dead is but preying vpon the liuing being a meere deuice seruing for the maintenance of the Popish that is to say Antichristian clergie Thus haue you heard the explication of this text and the vses which the seuerall branches thereof affoord there remaineth in a word the application and vse which is to bee made of the whole text both in generall concerning all those that die in the Lord and in particular concerning this our brother who who is asleepe in Christ. For seeing the dead which die in the Lord are presently blessed because they rest from their labours c. this therfore doth reach vs that death of a Christian man who is in Christ is not to be feareâ— as an euill thing but rather to be wisheâ— and desired because it bringeth happinesse with it For to him that is in Christ death is aduantage in that he changeth a life mortall and miserable for a life blessed and immortall chaungeth the companie of sinfull men for the companie of God his Saints and Angels changeth a sinfull and miserable condition in this valey of teares with a moâ— blessed and glorious estate in heauen wherein there is no possibilitie of falling either into sin or miserie And this muâ— also moue vs to labour for assured testimonies that wee bee in Christ that wâ— may desire euen to be dissolued and 〈◊〉 bee with Christ. For hee that doth noâ— feare but rather desire death he will nâ— for feare of any creature be withdrawn either from his faith or obedience Fâ— the worst thing which any creatur◠〈◊〉 threaten is death And that is it whiâ— he desireth especially if it be not only 〈◊〉 Christ but also for him Againe if the dead which die in tâ— Lord be thencefoorth blessed c. 〈◊〉 are not wee to mourne for them which are dead in Christ as in respect of them left wee may seeme to enuie their happines For though their bodies be committed to the earth yet are wee no more to mourne thereat than the husband man mourneth for committing his seed corne to the earth because they as well as the seede hauing purified in the earth will come vp against the great haruest with plentifull increase when this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortall shall put on immortalitie And as touching their soule that so soone as it departeth from the bodie is by the holy Angels conueied into the bosome of Abraham the place of heauenly blisse where they haue the fruition of God and fellowship of the blessed Saints and Angels This opinion which the holy Ghost doth here teach vs in general to coÌ„ceiue of all those that die in the Lord Christian charity bindeth vs to entertaine concerning this our worthy brother departed in the faith of Christ. For if all they which die in the Lord are happie and blessed and our assured hope be that he died in the Lord why should not wee conceiue assured hope that his estate is happie and blessed Now that charitie bindeth vs thâ— to conâ—iue of him I wil make it manifest For besides that there is no euidence to the contrarie and charitie euermore iudgeth the best we haue also sufficient euidence whereupon to conclude according to the iudgement of Charitie that hee died in the Lord. 〈◊〉 say according to the iudgement of charitie for as the iudgement of certaineâ— belongeth vnto God so the iudgemenâ— of charitie vnto vs. Let vs therefore take a briefe view of such fruits according to which alone being charitablie interpreted true charitie doth iudge I say oâ— such fruits and signes as haue appeareâ— both in the time of his health and also 〈◊〉 the time of his sicknes vntill his death For whereas there are three thingâ— which euery Christian must be carefulâ— in this present life namely that hee liâ— soberly in respect of himself religiouâ— towards God and iustly among meâ— the first I hope will be confessed of 〈◊〉 that knew him that hee was a sober graue discreet frugall temperate and chast man And as for his religion towards God first I say though hee were borne in the time of Popery notwithstanding he hath professed vnto me and to others in my hearing that from his youth he hath been perswaded that the Pope is Antichrist and that he abhorred the Idolatrous superstitions and damnable doctrines of the Church of Rome against both which I haue heard him by way of discourse inueigh seriously and to good purpose But as hee was no Papist so no neuter or nullifidian which is too common a fault among the politicians of this world but a professed Protestant and open professor of the true faith of Christ that is to say one that did beare the marke of God in his forehead as the faithfull are described in the beginning of this chapter And this beloued was no small fauour of God vouchsafed vnto him For as heere they are pronounced blessed who die in the true faith of Christ and not in the religion of Antichrist so Reuel 20. 6 they are pronounced blessed and holy who haue their part in the first resurrection whereby as they rise from other sinnes and corruptions so especially from the graue of Antichristian that